Chapter 60: Truth or Dare
Song Yuqing quickly clamped a hand over Liu Xiaona’s mouth. “It’s an exclusive house recipe! I’m planning to sell this soup in the future, so you absolutely cannot give away the secret!”
“We wouldn’t steal your recipe anyway,” Ruan Fanfan muttered.
Realizing she had nearly exposed everything, Liu Xiaona hurriedly excused herself, claiming she was done eating, and bolted back into the kitchen.
“Hey, aren’t you going to finish?” The black hunter called after her, lifting his bowl to gulp down more soup.
“I need to wash the pots and dishes!” her voice drifted back.
“No one else has even finished eating yet. Why are you in such a rush to clean?” Ruan Fanfan asked, ladling another spoonful of the sweet soup into her mouth.
Song Yuqing quietly observed Zhang Lei and Ruan Fanfan, trying to figure out the best way to start her interrogation.
“Zhang Lei, try this. The meat is delicious, it’ll really re-energize you.” Ruan Fanfan nudged Zhang Lei’s arm, a shy, schoolgirl flush rising on her cheeks.
Zhang Lei silently picked up a piece of meat and popped it into his mouth.
“So, Fanfan, why are you paying so much attention to him?” Song Yuqing asked, a gossipy smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“Because I like him,” Ruan Fanfan answered automatically.
Song Yuqing’s mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ of shock, while a mouthful of sweet soup erupted from the black hunter’s mouth.
Zhang Lei’s chopsticks froze mid-air, and Ruan Fanfan instantly clapped her hands over her mouth in sheer panic.
“No way… Love at first sight?” Song Yuqing pressed.
“I am, but she doesn’t know it,” Zhang Lei blurted out. He looked just as stunned as the rest of them, clearly not expecting those words to leave his mouth.
Ruan Fanfan stared at Zhang Lei in absolute shock, her panic quickly giving way to a look of pure joy.
“When did you two even fall for each other? How did I not know about this?” Song Yuqing leaned in. “And who brought you together?”
“It was shortly after the apocalypse started. Big Brother was the one who introduced us.”
“Big Brother? Who is that? I’ve never heard you mention him before.”
“Wan Youzhi.”
The name slipped past Ruan Fanfan’s lips entirely against her will.
“Yes,” Zhang Lei chimed in. He had wanted to claim that Ruan Fanfan was talking nonsense, but the moment he opened his mouth, the truth forced its way out.
“How exactly do you all know each other?” Song Yuqing struck while the iron was hot.
“He tracked us down and told us he could see the future. He invited us to join his organization, promising we’d become his right-hand personnel and help him seize power.” Before Ruan Fanfan could finish her sentence, Zhang Lei threw his hand over her mouth.
“Oh?” Song Yuqing raised her eyebrows. Now this was interesting.
“You’re testing us!” Zhang Lei snarled, a sudden flash of murderous intent flaring in his eyes.
Sensing the threat, Little Meat Bun immediately stood up on the table, puffing out his tiny chest, ready to strike at a second’s notice.
Zhang Lei had heard rumors about the creature’s formidable abilities. He forced his killing intent down, realizing that picking a fight right now would be a losing battle.
“What is your real purpose for coming here this time?” Since Zhang Lei had already caught on, Song Yuqing dropped the act entirely.
Though Zhang Lei kept his hand clamped tightly over Ruan Fanfan’s mouth, his own lips wouldn’t stop moving. “To meet up with Wan Youzhi and Lin Han. We’re planning to take over the strongholds in the surrounding towns first.”
Ruan Fanfan desperately tried to pry his hand away to cover his mouth instead, but it was useless. The truth kept spilling out, and Song Yuqing heard every single word.
Song Yuqing almost found it funny. These people were entirely too full of themselves. Did they really think the other bases were just run by fools waiting to be walked over?
“Aren’t you guys being a bit too arrogant?” the black hunter blurted out, having watched the entire drama unfold in silence.
Zhang Lei narrowed his eyes, a dangerous, suffocating aura radiating from his body.
The hunter trembled under the gaze. “Why are you looking at me like that? You’re so annoying!” With that, he snatched up his bowl and bolted into the kitchen. He had no idea what had possessed him today to make him dare talk back to the boss like that.
Ruan Fanfan finally managed to pry Zhang Lei’s hand off her face and glared fiercely at Song Yuqing. “Song Yuqing, you put the Truth Fruit in the soup, didn’t you?!”
Song Yuqing gave a calm, unapologetic nod.
Before Zhang Lei could fully grasp what that meant, Ruan Fanfan grabbed his arm and yanked him to his feet. “We’re leaving! Conghui, let’s go!”
Conghui flapped its wings, hovering close behind her. “Go, go, go!” the bird echoed loudly.
Song Yuqing stood up, her voice dropping. “Were you planning to take over the God’s Supermarket too?”
Just as Ruan Fanfan reached the threshold of the supermarket, she paused and looked back at Song Yuqing. “Yes. But the God’s Supermarket is no longer part of our plan.”
Little Meat Bun let out a low growl, as if declaring that he would never allow anyone to lay a finger on the shop.
Ruan Fanfan looked straight into Song Yuqing’s eyes, her voice deliberate. “Let’s not meet again.”
Song Yuqing froze for a fraction of a second, then nodded quietly. “Fine.”
Watching Ruan Fanfan pull Zhang Lei out into the darkness, a heavy knot formed in Song Yuqing’s chest. After all, she had been the one to trick her friend first.
With a soft whimper, Little Meat Bun scurried over and patted Song Yuqing’s head, mimicking the exact way she always comforted him.
Meanwhile, Ruan Fanfan and Zhang Lei rode on Conghui’s broad back, soaring through the pitch-black sky toward Base No. 27.
Through the endless darkness, the distant, flickering lights of the base finally came into view.
“Zhang Lei… everything you said back there, was it true?”
“Yeah.”
“I always thought you were just playing with my feelings.”
The effects of the Truth Fruit hadn’t completely worn off yet. The two looked at each other, a genuine smile breaking across their faces as they embraced. Their relationship had started as a calculated alliance born of a conspiracy, and each had secretly believed the other was only using them for self-interest.
In a way, Ruan Fanfan felt a bizarre wave of gratitude toward Song Yuqing. If she hadn’t slipped the Truth Fruit into the soup, it probably would have taken her and Zhang Lei ages to ever confess their true feelings.
“But it’s better if we keep things as they are,” Zhang Lei added quietly. “We don’t need to be attached at the hip like ordinary couples.”
His words sent a sudden chill through Ruan Fanfan. “I wish you hadn’t said that.”
“The grand scope of what we have to achieve doesn’t give us the luxury of indulging in romance.”
“I know,” Ruan Fanfan whispered, leaning her head against his chest and greedily breathing in his scent.
By the time Conghui brought them down over Base No. 27, the effects of the Truth Fruit had finally faded entirely. Sensing the tender mood between them, the clever bird had purposefully taken its time, circling the airspace several times before landing.
Under Wan Youzhi’s leadership, Base No. 27 had undergone a massive, terrifying transformation.
Down in the civilian slums, ordinary people without any superpowers were being forced to breed carrier pigeons.
In the apartment districts, combat psychics were being pushed to fight waves of zombies day and night without rest.
Over in the prison sector, massive iron chains bound the water-type mutants. Their skin had turned entirely charcoal-black, and under the cruel lash of guards’ whips, they were forced to manifest black, toxic water directly into massive holding pools.
The luxury villa district housed Lin Han and his elite inner circle, as well as honored guests like Wan Youzhi. Outside the base’s main warehouse, dozens of human-sized water tanks had been newly installed.
Zhang Lei and Ruan Fanfan walked into one of the grand villas, where Wan Youzhi and Lin Han had been waiting for them for hours.
“You’re late,” Wan Youzhi remarked, casually running a comb through his long hair.
“Where the hell have you been, Zhang Lei?” Lin Han asked, his brow furrowed in irritation.
“I just saved your skin, and this is the attitude I get?” Zhang Lei pulled out a chair and sat down casually. “I went to check out that legendary God’s Supermarket.”
“The God’s Supermarket?” Wan Youzhi didn’t even look up, completely focused on combing his hair. “Did you find anything useful?”
“They have a coffee shop that can actually enhance a person’s superpowers.”
“Oh?” Wan Youzhi finally stopped combing. He looked up, his interest piqued. “Elaborate.”
Wan Youzhi had heard rumors regarding the supermarket’s bizarre anomalies and had briefly considered trying to absorb it into their ranks. However, whenever he tried to use his precognitive powers to peer into the shop’s timeline, he couldn’t see its future at all. He had concluded that the place was destined for an imminent, catastrophic collapse, and thus hadn’t taken it seriously.
Ruan Fanfan pulled out a hand-drawn schematic and laid it on the table. “This is a layout of the God’s Supermarket. It shows their internal defenses and layout.”
Not only did the shop possess an advanced, automatic defense system, but it also housed the ability-boosting coffee shop, and the staff members were all high-level psychics.
Zhang Lei spoke up, his tone serious. “This time, I agree with Fanfan’s assessment. Given our current strength, we cannot afford to plot against the God’s Supermarket. Not yet.”
Seeing how deadly earnest Zhang Lei was, Lin Han flew into a temper. “Why shouldn’t we take it? Are you saying we can’t beat them?”
“It’s not like you haven’t tried throwing your weight around there before,” Zhang Lei countered coldly. “And what did you actually achieve? You’re just begging for trouble.”
